William Johnson Cory (1823 - 1892, born William Johnson) was a poet, born at Torrington, and educated at Eton, where he was afterwards a renowned master, nicknamed Tute (short for "tutor") by his pupils. He was a brilliant writer of Latin verse. His chief poetical work is Ionica, a collection including homoerotic and pederastic poems in which he showed a true lyrical gift. 1823 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... A poet is someone who writes poetry. ... Torrington may refer to a number of place: In the United Kingdom: Great Torrington, a market town in the north of Devon Little Torrington or Black Torrington, villages in Devon Torrington, a small village in Lincolnshire In Canada: Torrington, Alberta In the United States of America: Torrington, Connecticut - by far... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is an internationally renowned Public School (privately-funded and independent) for male students, founded in 1440 by Henry VI. It is located in Eton, Berkshire (traditionally part of Buckinghamshire), near Windsor in England... The term pederasty or paederasty embraces a wide range of erotic practices between adult males and adolescent boys. ...

Considered an exemplary school teacher, he strove to educate boys who might become future leaders, and numbered among his former students members of Parliament, cabinet ministers and several prime ministers, among whom Lord Rosebery. Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (May 7, 1847 - May 21, 1929) was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. ...

Teaching and writings

As a pedagogue he insisted on the centrality of personal ties between teacher and student. The historian G. W. Prothero described him as "the most brilliant Eton tutor of his day." Arthur Coleridge described him as "the wisest master who has ever been at Eton." In 1872 he resigned from his position at Eton under a cloud of suspicion for improper relations with boys. Afterwards he adopted the name "Cory," married, became a father and eventually set up house in London. He maintained contact with many of his close students. 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Eton can refer to several things: Eton, Berkshire, a town in England. ...

Previously, in 1858, he had published a book of Uranian poems, Ionica, written in 1850 in the space of two weeks and dedicated to one of his pupils, the "pretty-faced" Charles Wood, later Lord Halifax. The second part, titled Ionica II was privately printed in 1877. John Addington Symonds was deeply moved by the book and wrote Johnson seeking advice about his analogous feelings, receiving in response From John Addington Symonds 1891 book A Problem in Modern Ethics. ... Charles Wood may refer to: Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... John Addington Symonds was the name of a father and son, both English writers. ...

A long epistle on paiderastia in modern times, defending it and laying down the principle that affection between people of the same sex is no less natural and rational than the ordinary passionate relations.^[1]

Cory is well noted for a letter in which he poignantly and succinctly articulates the purpose of education. His words are taken by many as a justification for studying Latin. The full quotation goes thus: Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

At school you are engaged not so much in acquiring knowledge as in making mental efforts under criticism. A certain amount of knowledge you can indeed with average faculties acquire so as to retain; nor need you regret the hours you spent on much that is forgotten, for the shadow of lost knowledge at least protects you from many illusions. But you go to a great school not so much for knowledge as for arts and habits; for the habit of attention, for the art of expression, for the art of assuming at a moment's notice a new intellectual position, for the art of entering quickly into another person's thoughts, for the habit of submitting to censure and refutation, for the art of indicating assent or dissent in graduated terms, for the habit of regarding minute points of accuracy, for the art of working out what is possible in a given time, for taste, for discrimination, for mental courage, and for mental soberness. Above all, you go to a great school for self-knowledge.

In 1924, an entire book devoted to Cory was printed, entitled Ionicus. The author was Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, one of the most eminent and powerful men of his time. The boy Reginald had begun a correspondence with Cory at the age of 16, and continued it until the time of Cory's death, a sign of very high esteem, indeed. The dedication mentions three Prime Ministers (Rosebery, Balfour, and Asquith) "who at Eton learnt the elements of high politics from IONICUS."

Notes

External links

• Michael Matthew Kaylor, Secreted Desires: The Major Uranians: Hopkins, Pater and Wilde (2006), a 500-page scholarly volume that considers the prominent Victorian writers of Uranian poetry and prose, such as Johnson (the author has made this volume available in a free, open-access, PDF version).

This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton. The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ... A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature is a collection of biographies of writers by John W. Cousin, published around 1910. ...